Naaru
The naaru are a dimension-traveling race of living, sentient energy beings, with a deep affinity for the Holy Light of Creation that empowers the paladins of Azeroth. The naaru blessed the draenei with this power in an effort to help them in their struggle. They are bent on stopping the Burning Legion. History When Sargeras and the Burning Legion came to the world of Argus and began corrupting the eredar race, Velen, an eredar leader, prayed for help. The naaru appeared, offering to take Velen and any other like-minded eredar to safety. Velen and his faction accepted and began to call themselves draenei ("Exiled Ones"). The draenei hastily escaped Argus aboard the dimensional ship Genedar provided for them by the naaru. During the draenei's journey, the enigmatic naaru race blessed them with Light-given knowledge and power. The naaru explained that there were other forces in the cosmos that would stand against the Burning Legion. One day the naaru would forge them into a single unstoppable army of the Light. Deeply affected by the naaru's words, the draenei vowed to honor the Light and uphold the naaru's altruistic ideals. Due to the interests of the Legion, and later certain Azerothians in Outland, the naaru moved Tempest Keep to Outland for a more direct observation. The Keep was stormed by the blood elves led by Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, but the sin'dorei found only the naaru M'uru within the ship as the rest of the naaru went into the shattered land. In Sunwell Plateau, Velen describes M'uru's essence as "bathed by the light of Creation — just as it was at the Dawn." This may indicate M'uru (and other naaru) were born at the dawn of creation. Wrath of the Lich King The naaru make an appearance in the 'Boon of A'dal' quest, which involves helping a dying Argent Crusade paladin descend into the Light. They otherwise do not play any major role in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Biology Naaru appear to be composed of shards of light that may freely move around a central "heart." Naaru are believed to be immortal. If their physical form is damaged, it may bleed their energy causing them to enter a "diminished" or "darkened" state in which they are weakened and produce void energies. Their energy may take up to one thousand years to regenerate. It should be noted that some darkened naaru still appear to harbor altruistic intentions, however, their weakened state may be exploited for nefarious purposes, such as creating void minions and raising the undead. It is unknown if this cycle occurs naturally without an external catalyst. Examples of darkened naaru are D'ore, M'uru, K'ure, and K'ara. Twice, darkened naaru have also been shown to transform into void gods; though in both occasions this was only when their light was forcibly drained by an outside party, so it may not be natural. A naaru's darkened state is apparently different than death. Naaru may leave a "spark" when they die, as in the case of M'uru. It is unknown whether or not the naaru have separate genders. K'ure, A'dal, and M'uru have all been described using the pronoun "he," and K'ara is referred to as female. However, the pronoun "it" has also been used. It is possible that the naaru are genderless, given that "gender" only exists in races that engage in sexual reproduction, and it is thought that the naaru were "born" at the dawn of creation. Technology The dimensional fortress Tempest Keep, as well as the draenei dimensional ship/city the Exodar, are examples of naaru technology. It appears that the naaru have advanced knowledge of magic and access to otherworldly materials and reagents that have not been seen in Azeroth. Tempest Keep looks much sleeker than most buildings seen on Azeroth; however the texture slightly resembles that of "Wizard" architecture. The only factual knowledge we have is that Tempest Keep has "automated" defenses, the ability to fly and the ability to teleport itself and anything in it. Factions and locations Various naaru factions exists in-game, some of which you can earn reputation with. *Draenei - Naaru of the Exodar (Alliance). *Sha'tar - Naaru of Shattrath City. Prior to Patch 2.4, there was also an abducted naaru named M'uru within Silvermoon who was held captive by the channeling of Blood Elf sorcerers. This naaru was the source behind the Blood Knights (blood elf paladins) who drained the powers of the Holy Light from him. At the prince's signal the elves stormed the dimensional fortress, quickly defeating its automated defenses and claiming its satellite structures. The only real threat the elves discovered was a lone naaru who had stayed behind to maintain the keep's defenses. With some difficulty, Kael'thas subdued the energy being and sent it to Quel'Thalas so that the magic-addicted blood elves could feed upon it. Back in the capital city of Silvermoon, Magister Astalor Bloodsworn was not content with this idea. After long months of study and experimentation, he and his fellow wizards learned how to manipulate and corrupt the naaru's luminous energies. In the end, the wizards devised a process by which the powers of the Light could be transferred to recipients who had not earned such abilities. Instead of feeding upon the naaru's magic, the blood elves would wield the naaru's Light-given powers themselves. After patch 2.4, Kael'thas sent his felblood elves to Silvermoon, and M'uru was taken. Trivia/Notes *With the revelation that Khadgar and the Alliance Expedition have been fighting the Burning Legion alongside the naaru, it is highly probable that the Alliance and the Horde are the precursors of the "Army of the Light" — of which the naaru promised the draenei would be a part. *The naaru act in a similar manner to the angels of earth mythology and religion. *"Naru" means "River God" in Babylonian, "nūru" (also rendered nuuru) "light". *In the novel Beyond the Dark Portal, when General Turalyon and his command were interrogating a captured death knight, a naaru appeared to Turalyon and encouraged him to proceed with his decision to stop the Horde. *The naaru do not have any "proper" attack animation. When they fight, they just spin around in order to face their opponents. While their preferred attacks, such as those used by A'dal, M'uru, and X'iri are spells, it seems they can physically hit their opponents too. *Naaru do not have any proper death-animation either. When they die, they will simply freeze in the air, and the crystals spinning around them will halt. After a few seconds the entire being will disappear in thin air. *Specific music plays around naaru, different for their light or void state. Credits *The entirety of this article comes directly from Wowpedia. The article can be viewed here. *The artwork on this article is official and was created by Blizzard Entertainment and/or their affiliates. Category:Races Category:Creatures Category:Immortals Category:Outsiders